Childcare and Family Benefits

The NDP’s plan will help Canadian families by creating the first national program for families dealing with the rising cost of childcare. In fact, this would be the first major new social program in Canada in generations. The Liberals and Conservatives have made childcare promises for decades – and failed to deliver. The NDP will get it done by:

Creating and sustaining one million quality childcare spaces at no more than $15 a day.

We will begin immediately to make funding available and work with all provinces and territories to recognize programs already underway, while ensuring Canadian families get the affordable childcare they deserve. After 30 years of successive, hollow promises by the Liberals and Conservatives, the NDP will deliver affordable, high-quality, accessible childcare for Canadian families. In Quebec, this means helping the provincial government maintain and improve the existing low-cost, quality childcare program.

Our childcare plan will help make life more affordable for hundreds of thousands of Canadian families every year, create tens of thousands of jobs and boost economic growth across the country.

Tim and Geoffrey are adopting twins. In recognition of the extra demands of multiple births and adoptions, the NDP will provide the parents 70 weeks of parental and adoption benefits to share.

Tom Mulcair has committed to helping working parents by investing upwards of $500 million annually in dedicated leave for the second parent, doubling leave for parents of multiples, and closing the loophole that punishes working moms who lose their jobs after taking maternity leave.

With these changes, the NDP will:

Add a dedicated five weeks of leave for the second parent, including leave for same-sex couples and adoptive parents. This will help families spend more time together in the first year of a child’s life.

Double leave time for parents of multiples.

Ensure that parents who are laid off after returning to work from maternity or parental leave will have access to regular EI benefits.